Are the American democratic principles at risk today?

Thèmes abordés

American democratic principles, American Constitution, Davis Hanson, Kennedy, Nixon, Obama, democracy, presidentialization of power, mob

Résumé du document

The founding fathers of the United States never mentioned "democracy" once in the Constitution. In his article entitled "AMERICA IS IN DANGER OF BEING RULED BY THE MOB", published in 2015 in the Newsweek, Victor Davis Hanson shows that there is a contradiction in the American regime. Indeed, he highlights that "Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison, agreed that a republic, not a direct democracy, was a far safer and stable choice of governance." They were afraid of a democracy, in which, as Tocqueville argued, there would be a tyranny of the majority (that the author calls "the mob"). It can be provocative since democracy seems to be the most stable and just regime. Even more when the United States itself has the mission to spread democratic values in the whole world.

Extraits

[...] The election of Donald Trump shows for the fifth time that the US President can be legally elected in a non-democratic way, through the winner take all system. Thus, the founding fathers had already considered that the democratic principles were at risk and founded a constitution which seeks to avoid its drifts. II – The practice of the American Constitution However, the practice of constitution is far from its spirit. Today it is more about pleasing the majority than actually defending a policy to serving the public interest. [...]

[...] Conclusion To conclude, the American democratic principles have always been at risk considering the risk of an alienation of public opinion. The United States were creating under this fear by wanting to be a republic rather than a democracy. But American politics is based on these democratic drifts today because it advocates the necessary political popularity of a majority. This is why Davis Hanson defends a return to a republic as the founding fathers wanted « Without strict adherence to republican government and the protections of the Constitution, the mob will rule—and any American will become subject to its sudden wrath. [...]

[...] Are the American democratic principles at risk today? The founding fathers of the United States never mentioned « democracy » once in the Constitution. In his article entitled « AMERICA IS IN DANGER OF BEING RULED BY THE MOB », published in 2015 in the Newsweek, Victor Davis Hanson shows that there is a contradiction in the American regime. Indeed, he highlights that « Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison, agreed that a republic, not a direct democracy, was a far safer and stable choice of governance. [...]

[...] And without that, it is called « demagogy ». Especially when we know that there is a “presidentialization” of power in the US. Furthermore, while the constitution had actually made a system of checks and balances that « vented popular frenzies without a great deal of damage » there is now a risk of legal instability. Because the power always wants to please the public opinion, laws do not cease to comply with. It is this idea that the author tries to denounce by saying « American law has become negotiable and subject to revolutionary justice, while technology 75 has developed the power to inflame 300 million individuals in a nanosecond. [...]

[...] It seems to be the best way to govern to take into account the opinion of each citizen in order to serve the public interest. However, the problem is precisely how public opinion is formed. Indeed, it is easier for someone who is not politically informed to give his vote to an emblematic figure or to follow the majority's opinion. So public opinion tends to be a political instrument which allows the one who control it to build its legitimacy. But a good democracy implies all citizens to be informed and invested in the political sphere so that they can do rational choices. [...]